Lia shoved the door open, Ethan was overjoyed, but she snatched the bouquet from his hand in one grab, threw it on the ground, lifted her foot and stomped hard, grinding the flowers into mush, then said coldly, "Ethan, I told you, whoever promised to marry you, you go marry her. You said my dad agreed to marry into your family, right? He's right here, you can take him home and worship him as your ancestor."

"Lia!"

Tom shouted, his face dark.

Lia sneered and mocked her father, "Now you know I'm hard to deal with?" Then she warned Ethan, "If you dare pester me again, every time I see you, I'll beat you up once!"

Ethan wasn't angry at all. Instead, he said shamelessly, "Hitting means you care, scolding means you love. Lia, you must be crazy about me, that's why you said you'll beat me up every time you see me."

Lia was so infuriated by this shameless bastard she almost exploded, and kicked at him.

Ethan hadn't expected her to actually kick. He hadn't even touched a single finger of hers this time, and she raised her leg without even a word. Her foot landed on him and he yelped in pain.

"Get lost!"

Lia spun around and got back into the car. Very soon, she got out again, completely ignoring Ethan and her father, walked to the car in front, slapped the door and said, "You, get out."

The driver hurriedly got out of the car.

Even Violet followed him out, not knowing what Lia wanted to do.

Lia's toughness surprised Tom a little. Violet, however, had seen it plenty of times. After all, the two sisters fought often, and Lia had never once suffered a loss. Violet had even teamed up with their younger brother Liam, and still couldn't beat Lia. Dealing with Ethan, Violet felt Lia actually wasn't going all out; otherwise Ethan would have been beaten to the ground and unable to get up.

"Lia."

Ethan hurried after her, but before he even got close he heard a loud "bang."

It was Lia, who had gotten into the car, flooring the gas and slamming into Ethan's car.

"Hey, Lia…"

Everyone else stared in shock, even Violet thought her half-sister was seriously fierce.

Lia ignored everyone's reactions. She reversed, then hit the gas again and rammed forward, clearly not planning to stop until she knocked Ethan's car out of the way.

Tom didn't stop his daughter. Instead, he took out his phone to make a call, instructing the bodyguards to drive another car over. The car Lia was using to hit Ethan's car was already damaged.

Seeing that Lia wouldn't stop until she smashed his car into scrap, Ethan's heart ached for it. This was his favorite car out of all he owned. He quickly rushed over and drove his own car to the side, lest Lia flatten it into pieces.

Once Ethan's car was no longer blocking the way, Lia stepped even harder on the gas. The car shot out like an arrow from a bow, whooshing forward.

"Lia!"

Tom shouted loudly, but Lia was already driving the car—with its front just as damaged—far away. He worried Lia would use the chance to slip away and refuse to go to T City with him, so he hurriedly got into another car. Violet followed as well, and the second car sped off in pursuit of Lia.

In just the blink of an eye, only Ethan and that bouquet Lia had stomped into mush were left on the scene.

Ethan stood in front of his car, heart aching as he looked at his damaged beloved vehicle. Then he looked into the distance and suddenly laughed. "Lia, you busted my car, so you owe me now. Debt has to be repaid in person. I'm definitely claiming you."

But… "I've never seen a woman more ruthless than you." Ethan muttered to himself.

The women around him were all gentle, considerate, and understanding; none of them had ever even raised their voice at him. Only Lia never gave him a good face, and even dared to treat him like this.

"The less you like me, the more I like you."

Lia's fiery edge felt novel to Ethan, making him even more unwilling to give up.

Several hours later.

The three Aiken family members—father and daughters—along with Tom's secretary and two bodyguards, walked out of the airport. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Senior."

A somewhat familiar voice drew their attention. Lia looked over toward the sound and saw Lena Horne waving at her.

"Senior."

Lena jogged over, her face full of smiles. She came to Lia's side and hooked an arm through hers, saying sweetly, "Senior, I've been waiting here for you for an hour."

"Lena, how did you know…" Lia stopped halfway. Lena was Ivan's younger sister. She hadn't personally seen how the siblings got along, but from the way Ivan had taken such good care of her just because Lena asked, it was obvious Ivan Horne really doted on Lena.

Ivan knew she was coming over today.

Lena walked arm in arm with Lia for over a dozen steps before she suddenly acted like she'd just remembered there were others. She stopped, tugged Lia's hand, looked toward Tom and the others, and asked Lia, "Senior, they are?"

Lia only coolly introduced her father and Violet to Lena.

In fact, Lena could already guess Tom and Violet's identities. She'd deliberately ignored them at first and then pretended to ask.

Today Lena was still dressed simply, her clothes so ordinary that no one could tell her real background.

This girl had grown up listening to her parents' and aunt's love stories. Even though she hadn't started dating yet, she'd learned from her aunt's younger days to dress like an ordinary person, so no one would know she was the Horne Family's heiress. That way, she could make some real friends, not those who approached her for her status.

She politely greeted Tom. Tom was an elder after all, so he returned her smile, but didn't say much.

Violet, however, was all cold indifference, her eyes practically growing on top of her head. She didn't even look directly at Lena, convinced that Lia couldn't possibly befriend anyone rich.

Lena didn't care what kind of attitude Violet had. Her brother had told her that Senior would be accompanying her father here for a business talk today. Now that even Senior's "bad little sister" had tagged along, Lena wasn't stupid; she saw right through Violet's intentions.

Originally, Ivan had agreed to let his sister personally pick Lia up at the airport so she could take Lia home first. He'd return after work, to avoid Tom holding Lia as a bargaining chip to negotiate terms with him.

Even though Lia had said business was business, and Valence Group mustn't suffer because of her, Ivan still didn't want Lia to witness his ruthlessness in business.

Now that Violet had come too, Lena was wondering whether she should change her brother's plan and go straight to Valence Group with Senior?

After thinking it over, Lena decided to accompany Lia and the others to Valence Group. She felt there was definitely going to be a good show.

She wanted to see how Violet would use her tricks to try and seduce her brother, and it would also let Senior Lia witness firsthand just how upright and principled her big brother was—when a beautiful woman threw herself at him, he absolutely kicked her out without mercy!

Valence Group would never arrange someone to pick Tom and the others up at the airport, so Tom's secretary had already contacted a car service in T City before they even boarded the flight. When they walked out of the airport, they could get right into the dedicated car heading to Valence Group.

Lena also hitched a ride with them to Valence Group and sent a message to the Horne Family's driver, telling him to head back first.